ROLLED UP TIRAMISU COOKIES

This time, the fabulous Italian dessert comes in another form. 

Now who can resist the fine blend of coffee, cream cheese and rum altogether?

My kitchen SMELLS HEAVENLY even hours after baking them. Stored them in the cookie jar and they're all gone within seconds! (Seriously, I sometimes think I do live among Piranhas).

Anyway, here is the recipe to get started. Found it in my mum's cookie book. Takes long to make, but totally worth all the effort!

Ingredients

1. 300gr low protein flour
2. 30gr corn starch
3. 1/2 tsp baking powder
4. 1/4 tsp salt
5. 25gr whole milk
6. 125gr castor sugar
7. 100gr margarine
8. 100gr salted, chilled butter
9. 25gr mascarpone cheese (I LOVE IT!)
10. 1 tbsp rum
11. 1/4 tsp Tiramisu extract/essence
12. 1/4 tsp Mocca-flavoured paste
13. 1 tsp instant coffee, mixed in 1 tsp of hot boiled water
14. 35 gr shaved dark cooking chocolate
15. 1 egg yolk

Directions 

1. Beat the margarine, chilled butter and castor sugar in high speed for about 2 minutes.
2. Add in the mascarpone cheese, egg yolk, and rum. Fold until all are incorporated.
3. Add the dry ingredients. Be careful to not overstir it (as usual ;) )
4. Now the batter should look dense enough to be called a dough.
5. Divide the dough into two equal parts.
6. Add in the Mocca paste, Tiramisu extract and instant coffee to one part of the dough
7. Roll each part in separated place.
8. Shape up the dough into flat rectangles (it should feel as if you're rolling a pizza dough)
9. Stack the brown dough underneath the white one. Continue doing it until no dough is left (order : brown-white-brown-white-brown)
10. Roll the beautiful dough layers into a big log (as if you're rolling a Sushi roll)
11. Refrigerate the log in the freezer for about 1-2 hours
12. Once it's set, cut the log into pieces. By this time, they should look lovely with layer inside of them.
13. Now bake the cookies for about 25 minutes, 140 degree celcius.

Your cookies should be done now. Enjoy them with a cup of coffee :)

SWEET CHEESE COOKIES

Or should I say... biscuits?
Any name should work just fine, I guess.

Tried on this new recipe for this weekend, and it turned out awesome!
A cute mix of cream cheese, butter and caster sugar makes these cookies so light and crispy, savory with a little hint of sweetness.

One does not simply get their hands off the cookie jar with these babies.

Here is how to get started :

Ingredients

125g unsalted butter ( stored in room temperature)
50g margarine
2 egg yolks
125g cream cheese
100g cheddar cheese
50g parmesan cheese

140g flour
25g  corn starch
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
100gr caster sugar

How-to : 

1. Beat the butter, cream cheese, caster sugar and margarine until light and fluffy. About 1-2 minutes.
2. Add in the egg yolks, one at a time.
3. Add in the mix of dry ingredients.
4. Fold in the batter gently, adding parmesan cheese.
5. Pre-heat the oven to 140 degree celcius. Prepare the cookie tray.
6. Scoop a teaspoon of the batter (it should be golf-ball sized or smaller) and place it  to the cookie tray.
7. Gently press the surface with tip a fork, and sprinkle cheddar cheese on top.
8. Bake them for about 30 minutes or until golden brown and crispy.

baking in the oven! :D

Stored cookies in the almost-full cookie jar. 

Fluffy American Pancakes

Who's up for some fluffy pancakes? I AM! 

It's almost 9.00 pm and there is nothing I crave other than thick, fluffy American pancakes. 
Now, screw you whoever says pancakes are only for breakfast. Pancakes are for anytime. And I mean ANYTIME. 

Making pancakes is the easiest job in the whole universe. You could literally make 'em from scratch. There's a slim chance you could blow this out.  

Finding the right recipe, however, could be kinda tricky. There are tons of pancakes recipe on the net, but we gotta be really careful in sorting it out. 


This recipe from http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/fluffyamericanpancak_74828 is for those craving for American thick and fluffy pancakes (because there are many, many variations of pancakes!)

Now, have a look into your kitchen cabinet and grab the listed ingredients (I'm sure you have 'em all) : 

135g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
2 tbsp caster sugar
130ml milk
1 large egg

2 tbsp melted butter 

1 tsp vanilla extract

for topping (optional) : 

Maple syrup

Fresh blueberries

Directions : 

1. In a small skillet, melt the butter (be careful not to burn it). Set aside and let it cool slightly.

2. Sift the flour along with the dry ingredients. Store in a bowl. 

3. In a mixing bowl, lightly whisk the egg until slightly  foamy. This gives the pancakes  the perfect fluffy texture we're looking for. 

4. Add in the rest of the wet ingredients, alternating with the dry ingredients. 

5. Set the batter aside. Let it stand for a few minutes.

6. The batter should look lumpy, but it's fine. DO NOT OVER MIX unless you want rubber-like texture you'd hate to chew on. 

7. Heat the pan, and pour the batter. Make sure the pan is hot, otherwise the pancakes wouldn't rise as expected.

bubbles appearing on the pancake's surface

8. Once you see all the bubbles have appeared on the surface, flip the pancake to see if it's done. 

Your pancakes are now ready to serve!

oh, and don't forget to add the toppings. Or not. Still tastes amazing without one. 

VOILA!